Microsoft® XNA™ Unleashed: Graphics and Game Programming for Xbox 360 and Windows

Chapter 3. Performance Considerations

IN THIS CHAPTER

• Measure, Measure, Measure

• Managing Memory

• Understanding the Garbage Collector

• Optimization Suggestions

To be successful at writing games we have to be very aware of the expense of the different tasks we want to perform. Before we write our code we need to have an end goal we are striving to reach. As Stephen Covey stated in his book The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, we need to “Begin with the end in mind.” This is crucial for personal growth, but it is also very important when thinking about performance. As software engineers we need to have goals and then continue to measure against those goals as we develop our code. The “end” can change and we need to adjust accordingly.

In this chapter ...